


you're a king & i'm a lionheart

by handsaresilent



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Inspired by Music, Inspired by Poetry, M/M, Poetry, larry stylinson - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-09
Updated: 2013-06-09
Packaged: 2017-12-14 11:28:37
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,030
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/836392
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/handsaresilent/pseuds/handsaresilent
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Birds and cages, ships and compasses, hi and oops, you can't let the world see you.</p>
            </blockquote>





	you're a king & i'm a lionheart

**Author's Note:**

> I'd like to thank Lauren for suffering with me and managing to make something so simplistic sound amazing, you're the best beta ever.
> 
> Thanks to Rahima for encouraging me to write and boosting my self esteem when I needed it.
> 
> Thank you to Sarah for being the inspiration behind this whole thing!
> 
> The title is from the song "King and Lionheart" by Of Monsters and Men.
> 
> This is my first one shot, and it's quite abstract and short so please give me your thoughts and criticisms :)
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own Harry, Louis or any other members of one direction. Everything stated in this work is purely fiction.
> 
> Trigger Warning: implications of self harm
> 
> follow me on twitter @louiscasters and I love comments so please leave that and kudos if you liked it :) x

♡ ♡

 

It begins with kisses that are brushed aside as accidental contact- lips against lips and they try their best to agree that it's just friendly, yet they both know that their touches are turning into something less than platonic.

 

Rumors are shot out, quicker than anticipated, and it's a bit too much for them, because in their heads they have yet to figure what they mean to each other.

 

Time begins to fly and high fives turn into hand holding and touches linger for longer than they should. They begin to accept the fact that kisses are no longer meaningless and "we're best mates" has turned into "we're in love"

 

However Harry's world comes crashing down on him, almost as if rainbows were just a figment of his imagination and that it had never actually stopped raining.

 

Her name was Eleanor and she was everything he wasn't. Louis' laugh lines turned into frown lines and Harry started getting used to eating dinner alone (or not even eating at all). But he still found himself making Louis' favourite dish and setting the table for two, eating across from an invisible lover. 

 

_"What do we do, Louis?"_

_"We wait."_

 

So they did. Louis had always been smaller than Harry, but now Harry felt smaller than him. They were metaphorically slamming against closet doors, and harryandlouis held hands and kissed in the dark where no one could see. And in their rightful place louisandeleanor faced the world as the camera flashes continued to shine brighter behind Harry's eyelids while he tried to sleep, than they did during the day. 

 

Birds and cages, ships and compasses, hi and oops, you can't let the world see you.

 

There's something to be said about the two boys who ran for their lives but didn't know what they were running from. And some how their tattoos managed to cover up scars visible to the human eyes, but failed to hide the ones inside.

_"I can't change, Louis."_

  
_"I know._ "

 

And if you asked Harry, he would proudly tell you that Louis was a king. A king who held the throne along with the key to Harry's heart. Because Harry was a lionheart but they wouldn't let him roar. 

 

Promise rings fit snug around his fingers and seemed to fill the empty spaces in the confines of their hearts. And maybe, Harry thought, that dreams weren't meant to be sought after. Because every night he wished upon every damned star but they never ever seemed to shine as bright as Louis' eyes.

 

_"It is what it is"_

 

And Harry now knows what whiskey tastes like, especially when it's laced with Louis' tongue. And unfortunately he knows what alcohol tastes like because he was once drowning in it. And he knows what heartbreak feels like so he sings it like a song. 

 

He's sick of his friends calling him an inspiration and he's tired of simply being a conversation in the tabloids when they accuse him of going about with faceless women.

 

And they fight and fight and fight. Louis yells across the room and Harry yells right back. And because of Louis, Harry knows what it feels like to miss someone when they're holding your hand and pressing iloveyous onto your lips and the folds of your heart. 

 

Harry would tell stories to anyone who would stop and listen. Tales of two puppets who were bound together by meaningless papers. He told them how thin strings, sharp as glass, were tied around their wrists- wrapped about their ankles- forcing them to dance to a tune that didn't sound like home.   

 

They remember a time when Harry was a boat and Louis was his sea and the compass that pointed him in the right direction. Louis was everything in between the crevices of the waves, so when did he along with Harry's once dear music turn into anchors that weighed him down? When did holding hands feel like coils wrapping themselves around his wrists? And when did he begin to pull his sleeves down over his wrists so no one would see what was wrong?

 

They say they're living the dreams they had once so vainly chased, but after only sleeping for minutes and hours and maybe even years knowing the stories that are told about them, Harry can no longer differentiate between dreams and nightmares and even reality.

 

Their names are laced in conspiracies and found inside the words of carefully placed lies and Harry misses the times when it used to be easy, like breathing. He misses the times when razor blades were not casually found on the bathroom sink and the showers he took didn't spout water hot enough to burn. The times when his tattoos told his story, but now no one was allowed to read it.

 

Things I Can't: louislouislouis

 

So maybe they're just hitchhikers along a road of broken dreams, and maybe they fell in love too fast and didn't give up fast enough to save each other. Because Louis was lively and enigmatic, and Harry was subtle but as easy to read as an open book.

 

Maybe music saved them and maybe it ruined them too. Maybe they weren't allowed to love freely and scars were more permanent than tattoos and maybe they're something beautiful. Maybe they shine brighter than any of the galaxies but the stars harbor secrets too and Harry wonders if they're just as trapped as he is.

 

Because if you drink enough vodka, it tastes like love. If you choke on enough salt water you can see your lovers face burnt into your mind, and laced onto your eyelashes. And if Harry were to focus on that one burning spot, that bleeds heartbreak and a little bit of Louis, the other parts don't seem to hurt as much anymore.

 

But Harry continues to search for Louis amidst the sea of judging faces, and he holds him tight to his chest in an unfamiliar bed that doesn't feel like home was supposed to. And he hopes that one day, his lionheart will learn how to roar properly, so he can join his king at the top of their throne. 


End file.
